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Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device
The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, often simply referred to as the Portal Gun, or its acronym, "ASHPD", is an experimental tool used to create two portals through which objects can pass. The central piece of the "Portal project", Tier 3 of the three-tier program created by Aperture Science's CEO Cave Johnson on his deathbed in 1976,ApertureScience.comAperture Science: A History on Game Informer it is used within the Enrichment Center's Test Chambers, as the Test Subjects' primary tool to complete each chamber. Overview *The ASHPD has the ability to "manufacture two linked portals at once". The blue portal is fired by hitting the primary fire key, while the orange one is fired by hitting the secondary fire key. When entering a blue portal, one will always come out an orange portal and vice versa. *During Portal, Chell first acquires the ASHPD in Test Chamber 02; it fires only blue portals. It is later upgraded in Test Chamber 11 to fire the orange portals as well (while another model is found there, it actually consists of an upgrade of the current model, as said by GLaDOS). When each of the two versions of the gun are found, they are seen placed on a pedestal in the middle of a Test Chamber. The pedestal is constantly turning on itself, and the ASHPD shoots a portal each time it faces one of the four walls of the room it is in. Chell has to use the non-player controlled gun to complete the Test Chambers and once done acquires the initial ASHPD and later its upgrade. Currently it is not known how the two single ASHPDs are combined into one to result in a "modified" single gun. *In Test Chamber 02, GLaDOS states that while portals have proven to be completely safe, the ASHPD has not. She then asks not to touch the operational end of the device, not to look directly at its operational end, and not to submerge it in liquid, even partially. She also insists on the fact that under no circumstances the device should be removed from the testing area. After the ASHPD is upgraded in Test Chamber 11, GLaDOS states, as an "amusing fact", that the device is "now more valuable than the organs and combined incomes of everyone in hometown here". The terms appearing in brackets at the end of the sentence suggest it is said each time a Test Subject picks up the upgraded ASHPD, emphasizing on its great value. *Like the Gravity Gun, the ASHPD appears to featured a zero-point energy field, allowing Chell to pick up objects. However one has to stand close to the object to do so, and it cannot be thrown, suggesting the ASHPD has a weaker field. They can be carried through a portal, a process often required during tests. Unlike the Gravity gun however, High Energy Pellets, the Aperture Science equivalent of the Combine Energy Ball, cannot be picked up, either due to their instability or a weaker energy field. *The ASHPD is held with a hand behind the weapon, holding the handle / trigger. The other hand is placed under the cannon. *A sprite in the small hole on the top of the ASHPD and a sprite in its glass tube have the color of the last shot portal. *As with most of the features of the Enrichment Center, the ASHPD is slightly worn-out. *The ASHPD is slated to appear in Portal 2. Three models will apparently be featured; one used by Chell, the two others by the two yet unnamed robots. It also appears that the ASHPD will have new firing sounds, as well as new sounds when something goes through a portal. The portals are also expected to give off light in their surroundings. Tactics *The ASHPD cannot create portals on every surface. While it can on any concrete surface, it will not work on certain tiled floors, metal, any kind of prop, doors or windows. However it works on security cameras, detaching them and making them fall on the ground. When shooting a portal on an unauthorized surface, the weapon's ray will bounce off and be turned into blue or orange particles that shortly disappear. This constraint was added to make puzzles deeper than merely teleporting to the exit.Portal commentary *The oval-shaped crosshair/reticle of the ASHPD indicates useful information pertaining the portals. It first starts with a completely blue crosshair, as the first acquired ASHPD can only shoot blue portals. Later, when the ASHPD is upgraded to shoot orange portals, the crosshair is cut in two parts, blue and orange. Furthermore, a smaller oval appears next to the side that has been most recently fired. Finally, when the ASHPD is held in front of a surface where portals cannot be shot, only the outlines of the two oval elements are seen. They must always be filled in to allow shooting portals. *Shooting an orange portal on an existing blue portal (vice versa) will create the portal right next to it, if the room available allows it. *An Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grid will "reboot" any portal created by the ASHPD. In that way each Test Subject starts each new Test Chamber with a "clean" portal network, and must use their assets properly when having to come across one several times during tests. When this happens, the gun slightly shakes as the portals disappear. *Several portal creating techniques involving the ASHPD exist to complete several Test Chambers. They are covered in great detail in the Portal Prima Guide. Behind the scenes *The concept of shooting blue and orange portals to solve puzzles was directly imported from Narbacular Drop, whose team was hired by Valve to develop that technology into what became Portal. *The earliest known ASHPD model appeared like a modified Gravity Gun. The prongs directly based on that of the latter''The Orange Box Prima Guide'' are still in the final model. *The ASHPD model seen in the Portal trailer features "F-22" written in black on its top,[http://store.steampowered.com/app/922/ Portal Trailer] on Steam while concept art shows "A-12". It was replaced in the final model by the word "APERTURE" with under it a barcode and "04/". The end is faded, suggesting more alphanumerics used to come after "04/". This number suggests that the gun used by Chell is model 4 among the gun reserve, or that this model is the fourth version of the gun. *As seen in a very early Portal screenshot, the hands and forearms of the ASHPD user were to be featured in the viewmodel. Chell's right hand and forearm are still present in the final viewmodel, although the texture is broken. However the texture file can still be found in the game files, revealing what may be an early Aperture Science logo, followed by the number "122-7605", possibly an early Test Subject ID. These are not featured in Chell's model, which probably did not (at least fully) exist at that time of the game's development. *As seen in several early Portal screenshots, a modified Half-Life 2 HUD was first reused. *As seen in the earliest known Portal screenshot, the orange portal was originally purple. The final colors, blue and orange, are actually the same as the ones featured in Narbacular Drop, Portal’s predecessor technically speaking. Before being orange, the orange portal also was more halfway between yellow and orange. *The portals seen in the Portal trailer[http://store.steampowered.com/app/922/ Portal Trailer] on Steam are slightly different than the retail ones, and have purple waves swirling in the middle. *The firing sound of the ASHPD when it is still attached to its pedestal originally was the charging sound of the Combine Guard Gun, a weapon cut from Half-Life 2. *The "ASHPD" acronym bears a striking resemblance to Adrian Shephard's name (Adrian SHePharD), which led many players to speculate it is a hidden Easter egg, suggesting Shephard's involvement in Portal or its sequel. In addition, completing Portal unlocks a new menu background which contains a keyboard that has all the letters in Adrian Shephard's name highlighted, and these keyboards can also be seen throughout the game. Kim Swift said in an interview that the ASHPD acronym was actually a complete coincidence and that they added the keyboard highlights after people mentioned the acronym. Valve's Doug Lombardi subsequently confirmed the Portal reference as a complete coincidence. Trivia *Only one of the ''Portal'' Achievements is directly related to the ASHPD. Named "Lab Rat", it simply requires to acquire the fully powered ASHPD in Test Chamber 11. *Typing "impulse 101" in Portal gives all the Half-Life 2 weapons and shows the HUD, where a standing man glyph is used for the ASHPD. *The ASHPD does not work be default in Garry's Mod. Although its prop can be imported with the Portal content, it cannot be spawned as as working portal device, as Garry's Mod does not have the necessary code to make it work. However fan-made working versions are available. *The ASHPD can be used in Half-Life 2 and its episodes and Half-Life: Source by simply copying all the game data of the related game into the Portal data folder, then using the console to load the required map. The Half-Life 2 maps will work seamlessly with the ASHPD and vice versa, partly because of development and system similarity. *When Chell is killed by an Energy Pellet, the ASHPD disintegrates with her. Gallery ''Portal'' Pre-release File:V portalgun2.png|Texture sheet for an early model that seems slightly different than the model seen in the early screenshot (found in the retail game files). File:Chamber 13 purple gun.jpg|Early Test Chamber 13 screenshot, with the ASHPD using purple portals instead of orange, and the Half-Life 2 HUD. File:Portal gun f22.jpg|The ASHPD in the Portal trailer, with "F-22" on it. File:Blue portal beta.jpg|Early blue portal in the Portal trailer. File:Orange portal beta.jpg|Early orange portal in the Portal trailer. File:Portal gun early blue portal.jpg|Early blue portal, again with the Half-Life 2 HUD, in Test Chamber 03. File:Two portals old crosshair.jpg|Two portals and the Half-Life 2 HUD in Test Chamber 10. File:Portals early.jpg|Early portals. File:Portal early2.jpg|Early portal in Test Chamber 13, used as the basis of the portal in the game's logo. File:Early player portal momentum.jpg|Chell's placeholder following himself through his portals. File:Early player portal chase.jpg|Ditto. File:Yellow portal early player.jpg|Ditto. File:Portal shot early.jpg|Early ASHPD shot trail. Retail File:Portalgun hud icon.svg|HUD icon from "HalfLife2.ttf", appearing when entering the console code "impulse 101". File:Aperture Science ASHPD.svg|Aperture Science logo seen under the ASHPD, on both sides. File:Portal Gun w.jpg|Worldmodel. File:Portalgun viewmodel.jpg|Viewmodel. File:Portalgun viewmodel fire.jpg|The viewmodel tube expanding when firing. File:Portalgun viewmodel + arm.jpg|Full view of the viewmodel, including the unseen Chell's arm, with missing textures. File:Portal gun pedestal.jpg|Pedestal on which the ASHPD is showcased in Test Chamber 02 and 11. File:Portal get portalguns.png|The "Lab Rat" Achievement icon. File:Testchmb02.jpg|The blue portal ASHPD introduced in Test Chamber 02. File:Testchmb11.jpg|The orange portal ASHPD in Test Chamber 11. File:Portal gun before upgrade.jpg|Right before upgrading the ASHPD in Test Chamber 11. File:Portal crosshair blue.jpg|The first crosshair to appear, blue-colored. File:Portal crosshair both colors.jpg|The second crosshair, featuring both colors. File:Portal crosshair last blue.jpg|The crosshair indicating the last portal used, here the blue one. File:Portal crosshair last orange.jpg|Ditto, the orange one. File:Portal crosshair no.jpg|The crosshair showing a surface where portals cannot be shot, here a metallic wall. File:Portal gun orange tube.jpg|The tube and the small hole being orange after firing an orange portal. File:Portal gun blue tube.jpg|Ditto, after firing a blue portal. File:Portal gun holding cube.jpg|The ASHPD holding a Weighted Companion Cube in Test Chamber 17. File:Testchmb a 10 advanced0010.jpg|Blue portal bouncing off a metal wall. File:Portal on metal floor.jpg|Orange portal bouncing off a metal floor. File:Portal on tiled floor.jpg|Blue portal bouncing off a tiled floor. File:Portal blue sent.jpg|The trail following a blue portal being created by the ASHPD. File:Testchmb17.jpg|The ASHPD after creating two portals in Test Chamber 17. File:Chell-walk.jpg|Chell's model walking while holding the ASHPD. File:Chell-crouch.jpg|Chell's model crouching while holding the ASHPD. ''Portal 2'' Pre-release File:Portal2 robots.jpg|Concept art for the two Portal robots, one holding an ASHPD. File:02099218.347.png|ASCII art version, originally revealed during the ''Portal'' ARG. File:Chell concept portal 2.jpg|Concept art for Chell in her new outfit, holding the ASHPD. File:09902956.832.png|ASCII art version, originally revealed during the Portal ARG. List of appearances *''Portal'' *''Portal: First Slice'' *''Portal: Still Alive'' *''Portal'' ARG *''Portal 2'' References External links *Portal Gun - a set on Flickr (fan-made life-size ASHPD) Category:Portal Category:Portal 2 Category:Weapons Category:Aperture Science weapons Category:Moby Francke designs Category:Experimental weapons Category:Portal creators Category:Scott Klintworth designs